Event promotion: connecting health care professionals

The Adolescent Health Initiative (AHI) Events Team works to plan and host AHI’s educational events, primarily the Annual Conference on Adolescent Health and the Connection Session

The purpose of AHI’s events is to bring together health care professionals to:
  • Learn in community with one another
  • Share research and evidence-based practices around adolescent health
  • Bring the voices and experiences of adolescents, especially those most impacted by systems of power and oppression, directly to the people doing the  work
  • Expand our community of practice
  • Create more adolescent-centered environments to better meet the health care needs of young people

As the Marketing & Communications Specialist for AHI, I create branded videos, graphics, and copy for multiple campaigns by utilizing project management skills. In collaboration with the Marketing & Events Team, I spearhead the production of promotional materials for the Annual Conference on Adolescent Health and Connection Sessions. This involves designing graphics, sending email updates to attendees and the wider newsletter subscriber list, collaborating with speakers to develop social media content, and curating interactive content for the day of the event.

Connection Sessions

Connection Sessions are day-long conferences that focus on one specific topic in adolescent health for an interdisciplinary audience of health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, social workers, health center managers, and other youth-serving community professionals. These professional development opportunities aim to connect health professionals to community resources and others in the field.

2021 Connection Session:

Pictured above is the save-the-date graphics I created in line with 2021 graphic design trends for the event utilizing Canva.
In efforts to promote the 2021 Connection Session's registration, I assisted in scripting and producing the video above utilizing Adobe Premiere. 
About the event: The 2021 Connection Session, Racial Equity in Adolescent Health Care: Developing an Anti-Racist Practice, broaden participants' understanding of the intersections of structural racism, medical mistrust, and bias related to the historical and present landscape of adolescent health care. The event supported attendees in developing actionable strategies to address bias and introduce anti-racist principles into their professional practice.

The Connection Session Planning Team met weekly to go over our functional areas and identify spaces for collaboration. In my role, I worked with all members of the group to disseminate event information via our bi-weekly newsletter, social media, website, and through intentional outreach.

As a result of our collaborative efforts, we held the largest event in its six-year history, as nearly 300 interdisciplinary health care professionals convened to better understand the impacts of racism on adolescent health.

To check out the webpage I built out for attendees to access tools, resources, and session information for the event, click the button below.

Annual Conference on Adolescent Health

The Annual Conference on Adolescent Health brings together an interdisciplinary community of health care professionals to share research and best practices aimed at improving adolescent-centered care. Each year, the event hosts over 450 attendees from nearly all 50 states and a growing international community. More than half of the sessions at the event are co-facilitated by youth, and the planning of the conference is guided by the AHI Teen Advisory Council (TAC TAC).
2023 Conference on adolescent health
2022 conference on adolescent health
During the Events Work Group’s reflection on the 2021 Conference on Adolescent Health, we decided to designate one person to create the Conference graphics for the 2022 event to ensure branding and uniformity. I volunteered to lead this project.

In preparation for this task, I conducted extensive research on the performance of previous Conference designs (examining what elements performed well, and what didn’t), and familiarized myself with 2022 graphic design trends (according to Adobe: fluid shapes, gradients, cool colors, and retro are in), and did some reconnaissance on other health care conference graphics (which trended towards utilizing cool colors like blue).

Based on my findings and feedback from the larger AHI Team, I decided on a vintage minimal 70s design – which employs the warm colors of our 2020 Conference branding that was canceled due to Covid-19 (burnt orange, pink, and yellow), fluid shapes, and generous white space. Since other 2022 conference designs were leaning towards blues, I thought a bright color pallet would help our event stand out.

Navigating this project, with the knowledge that I have the opportunity to influence hundreds of health care professionals, has pushed me to be innovative and intentional in the design, dissemination, and assessment of this project. ​
2021 conference on adolescent health
  • Over 2021, I worked closely with the Marketing & Events Assistant to cross-functionally promote AHI's first ever virtual Annual Conference on Adolescent Health while our supervisor was on parental leave. 

    First, I began learning strategies for marketing virtual events, such as taking a course on Skillshare, Marketing Virtual Events, and attending several webinars, such as How to Plan Your 2021 Conference Format. Then, I drafted timelines of the Conference’s milestone to track when creating promotional materials for the website, social media, and the newsletter.

    Moving forward, my coworker and I met weekly to collaborate on innovative marketing strategies to promote a virtual event, including, but not limited to, garnering videos and quotes from our keynote and plenary speakers, Excellence in Adolescent Health Award recipients, youth performers, and to build out interactive Instagram Story templates for the days of the live event. I also split our bi-monthly newsletter into separate emails about new resources and updates on our Conference for clarity.

    Due to pricing transparency and accessibility, outreach efforts, strategic marketing, and the Conference team’s overall collaboration, the 2021 Conference on Adolescent Health hosted 845 attendees from 44 states, 8 countries, and 355 organizations. This was the largest event in its 7-year history.

  • Leading a Twitter Chat: ​
    For promotion of the Annual Conference on Adolescent Health, AHI hosts an Annual Twitter Chat. This virtual event helps showcase featured speakers and sessions and build hype for the Annual Conference. We have found that these events are an excellent way for communities to share resources, research, knowledge and build stronger relationships.

    ​For #AHI2021, the topic centered on Understanding the Impacts of, and Supporting Youth During, the Covid-19 Pandemic. I led this project by coordinating with our co-hosts, members of our Program Team, and our Co-Medical Directors to curate a list of questions and detailed responses that fit within the Twitter character limit. 

    ​As a result, ten outside organizations collectively participated, amplifying content in support of  mental health across the country. Each of those ten organizations has its own substantial twitter following, creating a ripple effect in the dissemination of resources. 
    ​
    ​To date, was the most successful Twitter Chat AHI has hosted.​

Testimonials

"Rachel has done an outstanding job of weaving Michigan Medicine values into her work. She is intentional and thoughtful in her Marketing practices, and always brings care and integrity to her work. She actively challenges herself to be learning, and think critically about representing AHI and Michigan Medicine in the most responsive and inclusive way possible. Rachel is innovative in her approaches to Marketing and Communications. She constantly challenges AHI to think of new ways to reach their communities in a way that feels supportive. Rachel also incorporates team feedback into her work, and is always looking for ways to include more voices in the work. I’m proud of the work Rachel has done in response to meeting both AHI & Michigan Medicine values. She is a true asset to the institution and to the field."
-  Janine Driver, Marketing Specialist at the Adolescent Health Initiative.

"Rachel was my digital strategist for a year. I'm incredibly pleased with her innovation, work ethic, persistence, diplomacy, and creativity. She does more than sit back and let me dictate to her. She jumps in as a valued collaborator.  If needed, she has learned a new skill and pursued formal education to assist in any task I ask. If you have the opportunity to work with Rachel DO IT, she's like a whole team in one person,"
- Pamela Stewart, author.

"Rachel approaches all projects with heart and a lot of passion. She envelopes herself in the subject matter of her work, and she strives for perfection. She's not afraid to reach out when she needs help, wants to do more, or is looking for another perspective on things. Rachel is someone I would turn to for projects that need a creative lens or greater sensitivity. She is encouraging -- both personally and professionally -- and cheers for all to succeed. She's sure to bring an aura of positivity wherever she goes,"
- Caitlin Taylor, Communications Coordinator for Airport Community Schools, former Editor-in-Chief of Her Campus-Michigan State University.

"Rachel has gone above and beyond for Project LETS-MSU. She has brought many incredible ideas to the table and has never failed to execute them. Her creativity and passion is definitely noticeable in her work,"
- Sonali Solanki, former President of Project LETS-MSU.